European stocks broadly lower as banks slump; DAX down 0.65%

Forex Pros - European stock markets were broadly lower on Tuesday, as shares in the financial sector led losses, while U.S. futures indexes pointed to a higher open on Wall Street. During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.7%, France's CAC 40 shed 0.55%, while Germany's DAX 30 slumped 0.65%. Shares in the financial sector performed poorly, dragged down by Italian banks. UBI Banca, the nation's fourth largest lender saw shares plunge 9.8% after it reported a fourth quarter net loss that exceeded analysts expectations and said it planned to increase share capital by as much as EUR 1 billion. The unexpected capital increase announcement prompted Nomura Holdings to downgrade the stock to 'sell'. Also Tuesday, Italy's third largest bank Banco Popolare saw shares tumble 6.5% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock and cut its price target on the shares by 5.2%. Across the sector, shares in Italy's largest lender Unicredit dropped 3.6%, Spain's biggest bank Banco Santander saw shares dip 2%, while Commerzbank sank 2.5%. Meanwhile, shares in Germany's largest retailer Metro lost 2.1% after it cautioned that Japan's ongoing nuclear crisis could weigh on 2011 earnings results. In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 shed 0.25% as shares in oil and gas giant British Petroleum slumped 2.2% after the stock was downgraded by JP Morgan, citing downside risk from crude-price exposure and uncertainties over its deal with Russian oil giant Rosneft. Also weighing on BP shares was a report in Bloomberg, which said that officials at the company, including former chief executive Tony Hayward could face manslaughter charges for decisions made before the Gulf of Mexico explosion that killed 11 workers and triggered the worst oil spill in U.S. history last spring. The outlook for U.S. equity markets, meanwhile, was upbeat. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a rise of 0.18%, S&P 500 futures indicated a gain of 0.15%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.22%. Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish data on consumer confidence compiled by the Conference Board as well as industry data on house prices. ForexPros.com - Forex Pros offers a diverse set of professional tools for Forex, Futures and CFDs. These include real-time data streams, technical and fundamental analysis by in-house experts, and a widely used economic calendar and Forex News.